Chapter 122: Trouble for the Zhang Family

Just as Chen Xin left for university in Jin City, the Zhang family’s eldest brother successfully sold their first batch of bamboo rats.

Because the couple was diligent and conscientious, their bamboo rats were exceptionally healthy. The merchant who came to purchase them bought the entire stock in one go. At the market price of 23 yuan per jin, and with approximately 400 rats—each weighing between two and two-and-a-half jin—the family earned 20,000 yuan from this sale.

A pair of breeding rats produces two litters a year, and it takes about a year to a year and a half for the offspring to reach a sellable size. The Zhangs had originally purchased mature breeders and kits, and this latest sale consisted of those offspring. The healthiest individuals were kept for further breeding, though due to some failing to adapt to the climate, only two-thirds of the original breeding stock remained.

In this day and age, earning 30,000 to 50,000 yuan a year was considered very successful. Since the Zhangs utilized staggered breeding, they could harvest three times a year. On average, their annual income was a stable 70,000 yuan, leaving a net profit of over 40,000 yuan after accounting for expenses and losses. While 40,000 might not be much in the city, in Zhang Village, the Zhang family was firmly at the top.

It wasn’t as if there were no envious neighbors, but the Zhang family had the first-mover advantage. Others who wanted to start farming had to go elsewhere to learn or hire teachers. Since those teachers wouldn't stay indefinitely, any problem that arose during the farming process could be devastating. Not everyone had Zhang Debing’s luck, where learning a skill resulted in marrying the teacher herself.

The Zhang family was actually quite generous; they didn’t hoard their techniques. Whenever anyone asked, Yan Chunhua and Zhang Debing shared everything without reservation. However, it seemed the family in the neighboring village had poor luck. Their bamboo rats caught a disease, and over 300 of them died in less than a week, leaving the family devastated.

A veterinarian from the animal husbandry station inspected the site and determined the cause: poor hygiene and lax maintenance. They had built their chicken coop right next to the rat pens, leading to food contamination. The rats contracted a streptococcal infection, which was highly contagious. Because the family hadn't discovered it in time, by the time they noticed the dead rats, it was already too late.

The station demanded that everything be burned, but the family, desperate, refused, hoping to sell the sick rats at a low price to recoup some losses. Fortunately, their village chief was firm. He had people keep them away while he personally led a team to dig a pit, sprinkle it with quicklime, and incinerate all 300-plus diseased rats.

"Dawa, you all need to be careful," a neighbor warned Zhang Debing and Yan Chunhua quietly. "I heard that family is jealous of you. They are saying it’s your fault because you refused to help them. If they decide to poison your stock, your entire livelihood could be ruined."

She suggested they get two more dogs to guard the perimeter, keep strangers away from the farm, and have someone stand guard at night until the situation calmed down. Fortunately, the Zhang family’s village was located on higher ground. To reach them from the neighboring village, one had to go around the mountainside or climb up through Jiazi Gully, where the slopes were so steep that one misstep could be fatal.

Zhang Debing, worried about sabotage, moved into the farm with his father. They already had one dog and brought back two half-grown ones from Linshan Village—vicious types that were chained in the farm during the day and let loose at night.

About six or seven days passed without incident, and the Zhang family began to think they had been overly cautious. Then, tragedy struck. Past one in the morning, the village dogs suddenly began barking like mad.

The villagers rushed out to investigate and found two men being attacked by the village dogs. Beside the mountain path lay one dog, foaming at the mouth from poison, and another with its skull bashed in. The poisoned dog belonged to the village party secretary and was a young male known for scavenging food. The other was its brother, a dog that always roamed the village with it.

After the men called off their dogs and subdued the two screaming intruders, they realized it was the two brothers from the family that had lost their rats. No one needed to ask what they had been planning.

In this remote area, the village rules held more weight than the police. The two men were tied up and left at the entrance of Old Master Zhang’s pigsty. Four young men hiked through the night with torches to summon the other village chief to discuss the matter. The Zhang family sat at the elder’s house, knowing full well the brothers had targeted their farm.

"Big Brother, is this okay? Should we just call the police?" Yan Chunhua asked. Although she was from a rural area, her village was different, and she trusted the authorities more.

"It’s fine. We aren't using vigilante justice; we just need to settle this with their village so they can't claim we harmed their people," Zhang Debing said, patting her hand reassuringly. Knowing she was pregnant, he urged her to go home and rest.

The chief and party secretary from the other village arrived quickly, along with the brothers' father and uncles—a group of over a dozen people. The weather was hot, and the two brothers, stripped down to their underwear, sat huddled together shivering. A bottle of pesticide lay on the ground with them, smelling exactly like the poison that had killed the dogs.

"You handle this," the village chief said with a cold laugh, glancing at the trembling brothers. "Don't think we don't know what they were here for. We’ve been neighbors for centuries; don't bother with excuses."

"It's true! The Zhang family was ungenerous—they wouldn't teach us..." one brother started.

"Bullshit!" Zhang Debing stepped forward, leaning on a shoulder pole. "When you wanted to start, my wife told you that the site you chose wasn't ventilated and the water source was inconvenient. You insisted on building there. There were over a dozen people present who heard her say that, including farmers from Linshan and Xiajiang villages. If you don't believe me, we can have the police ask them."

The brothers turned their heads away, remaining silent.

"Building the farm there was one thing, but my wife also told you not to keep other livestock nearby. If you did, you had to clean and disinfect the area twice a day. Did you do that?"

"Of course they didn't," someone chimed in. "I heard the vet say that their 'farm' was nothing but a rat hole. It was pitch black. The Zhangs keep their rats in separate, marked pens, feeding them according to age and sex. Those two threw them all together. Forget daily cleaning—I doubt they cleaned it once in ten days."

The villages were close, and everyone knew everyone else’s business. Those two brothers were notorious for being lazy and greedy.